Part II!

As to "modern" US sporting rifles and Proof Marks.

The reality is that here in Europe these are seen as working rifles and only just is a collector's market emerging.

So I've seen Winchester 54 rifles with British Proof Marks and Winchester 94 rifles etc.

Personally if I have an American weapon I want it that "ALL AMERICAN" without some stamps hammered into it here in England!

So if I were to import a fine pre-64 Winchester in 300 H & H Magnum I'd ask the Proof House for a "Certificate of Proof" and a "hidden" mark (maybe just in front of the rear receiver tang screw in the bolt race) as I think Proof Marks that were not applied by the maker diminish its integrity.

But if I were importing a run of the mill Remington 700 as a "beater" rifle? Well it's a working tool and legally it allows me to sell it on without worrying about if I have lost that Proof Certificate!

Would I send a US rifle to UK to get Proof Marks to "try to match" and existing British rifle I have?

No because the Proof Marks have "evolved" and as others say you will get stamped on your gun the correct Proof Mark as set-down in CIP Rules for 2010 and you won't get marks in the OLD BIRMINGHAM OR LONDON STYLE WITH "TONS PER []" stamped on the gun.

Tim,

Could you please re-post some pics of that gorgeous 375 for us to gawk at?

Thanks!

Jeff

Kudos to enfieldspares for an excellent tutorial on the stamping and (sometimes) proofing of Lend Lease firearms, and also on British proofing in general.

ALF, I can't for the life of me figure out your objections. But maybe I missed something.

Lee, good luck with it, if that's what you want. It would be too much trouble for me, though!

From "the Devil wears Prada"

Meril streep:

"This... stuff?

Oh... okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you.

You go to your closet and you select out — oh, I don't know — that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back.

But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean.

You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002 Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns.

And then I think it was Yves St. Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? (I think we need a jacket here). And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers.

Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin.

However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff "